Bird Only Shows Backside and Won't Turn Around

I have a 7 month old sweet natured Gold Manteled Rosella. She is very friendly with me and will look straight at me. However, when my husband goes up to her cage (he is quiet and respectful) she won't face him....she always turns her backside to him. She does seem to be looking over her shoulder at him, but will not face him....no matter which way he walks around cage she will keep turning so only her backside faces him. Why does she do this?

Comments for Bird Only Shows Backside and Won't Turn Around

Linda has some wonderful suggestions. I don't know much about the type of bird you have. But I think if your hubby will work at bonding with her she will come around. It may take time. If you can wrap her in a towel (I like the flour sack kind for Elmo so her toes don't get tangled in loops) and hand her to your hubby just to hold and maybe give her a peice of apple or other treat she will learn that he is 'okay'. Of course in Quaker World turning the back to the person/s is a social commentary. Miss Elmo does it to let me know she is not happy with me at the moment. And she will look over her shoulder to make certain that I know what she is doing! We used to sit Elmo down on the table top and just let her walk around and investigate things. Hands, fingers, arms, towels and toys. whatever was on the table. Even put a tub of water on the table for bath and just let her do her own thing while we sat and watched and chatted with her. No demands were put on her at all. It was just 'do your own thing'. There are lots of little things you can try. They like to bond. Well, Quakers do. Good luck.

Oct 23, 2009

Shows Backsideby: Linda

This is a mystery, and there is a good answer, but I cannot see it clearly. Have you had her all of her 7 months or was she given to you or sold to you by another family? This behavior appears to be related to men in general and not just your husband. Does she allow him to get her out of cage and hold and play with her?

This will all just be supposition, so take it for that and not the gospel. See how she is if he tries to take her out of her cage or picks her up outside her cage. If bird was owned previously by another family or was in a pet store, the benavior may be related to some kind of abuse by a man. It is difficult to say since we don't have all the facts.

The only thing I can suggest is that you take bird out of cage and pass her over to your husband. If she tries to bite or gets very upset, then there is a possibility of abuse here. Not saying your husband did it, just saying that possibly somewhere in her background there was either abuse or neglect or both by a man. Being as young as she is this could also be related to the sex of person who handfed her as a baby. Babies fed by only women will more easily bond with a woman. Babies fed solely by a man or male will be more likely to bond with them first and ignore the female in family.

Depending on where you got her, call them and find out if she showed this behavior before. It is always best for both male and female to handfeed the babies so they will be equally able to bond with either sex.

Taking her to an Avian Vet for a checkup is also a good idea. Anytime we see behavior that does not make sense to us, a good checkup to rule out any physical problems is always a good direction in which to go. Tracie has some training links out here, and you may be able to talk with a professional trainer to give you some insight into problem. FIRST TAKE HER TO AN AVIAN VET TO RULE OUT PHYSICAL PROBLEMS. This will be the advice given to you by any training/behavioral professionals. Once all the physical bases are covered, then you are left with psychological or mental/emotional which is usually harder to deal with since it is not as straight-forward as a physical problem.

Encourage your husband to offer her a treat of some sort that she likes, and have him feed and water her and even clean her cage for a while. That may sound odd, and birds SEE who does all the feeding and cleaning, and they feel more bonded with those caretakers than anyone else. If she has had problems with a male, this feeding, watering and cleaning will possibly turn her around so she sees males in a better light. These are suggestions, and would be a good idea here.

Keep us posted as we are very interested to know how this turns out. Thanks for writing,Linda